Where to start with this gem.

With over 1300 hours on the game, XCOM 2 is my favorite game of all time. Is it perfect? No. Well optimized? Without mods on a high end machine yeah. But the pure bliss of playing this game is indescribable. From cheering on your squad as they wipe the floor with a pod from a perfect concealment overwatch ambush, to raging from the loss of that same squad as a sectoid crits your only leveled soldier in high cover halfway across the map as your playing on legend difficulty and you were one turn from getting to the objecti... you get the point.

XCOM 2 does what other games cant: Let you be the story. Sure, Bradford, Shen, and Tygan are the main characters, but you and your soldiers are the protagonists. The solider customization starts this off, with loads of things to choose from and mix and match looks for your soldier even in the base game. DLC adds to this, especially WOTC, which I would consider a mandatory purchase for anyone looking to seriously get into this game.

The turn based nature of the game, along with the detailed environments and animations of soldiers and alien alike make for cinema level enjoyment and D Y N A M I C G A M E P L A Y A N D S T O R Y T E L L I N G. I know those are popular buzzwords for this game but they couldnt be closer to the truth. Being able to have your best friends, favorite fictional characters, or just a bunch of joe schmoes fight and die for each other makes some of the best gaming you can experience today.

And if that's not all, IT ACTUALLY HAS GOOD GAMEPLAY! I've seen people describe the game as 3d battle chess, and that is an apt description. With 4 different classes and 2 different skill trees for each class that can mix and match skills from each tree, to weapon and armor tier upgrades, and weapon attachments, youve got so much to customize your soldiers playstyle. Then once the boots hit the ground, the missions are so open ended on how you want to approach each battle. If you start in stealth, do you want to slowly and silently move your soldiers up and find where each enemy is before perfectly positioning your soldiers to only have sights on 1 squads of ayys to overwatch ambush them then kill the rest because your already so close? Or do you rush your squad headfirst into the first squad you see and bulldoze through? or do your soldiers die to the first squad because they miss all their shots and an officer frags your entire squad that was all huddled together because you had hoped you could wipe them out in one go...

But thats the fun part! Losing soldiers creates for interesting scenarios on the tactical layer, where you move your ship around to scan for things you need. Do you now go for the rookie scan to replace the soldiers you lost? Or go for the supplies or alien tech to hopefully bolster your remaining barracks for the next mission?

And yeah, I saved the best for last. MODS. This game was built with mod support in mind. LITERALLY. Firaxis made it their objective to make XCOM 2 one of the most mod accessible games because of the love and support mods like Long War received for Enemy Unknown, which was a MUCH harder game to mod. So, you remember how I said you could make you squad consist of some of your favorite fictional characters? Well now you can ACTUALLY make your soldiers look like those characters with the plentiful voice and cosmetic packs found for FREE on the workshop.

Am I using ALOT of CAPITAL LETTERS?! YES! BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST PART!

Do you want a more challenging experience with harder and more various enemies? Mods got you covered! (ABA, Long War 2, etc...) Wanna make your soldiers straight demigods of the battlefield? Class mods that have RIDICULOUSLY overpowered skills. New guns? Check. Armor? Check. New classes that ARE balanced? Check. Music mods? Check. Everything imaginable? Probably check.

Mods is without a doubt the best part of XCOM 2, and a big part of the reason why I have clocked the hours I have. Ive done Halo campaigns, Gears of War campaign, realistic campaigns, UNrealistic campaigns, and so much more!

If your bored during quarantine and want something to do, as of writing this review the game with all its DLC is around 50 USD, which is a steal for the amount of content that is. If you dont want to shell out that amount of cash, for 15 USD the base game is a great purchase as that alone is what I sunk probably 400 hours into with the mod support it has.

In conclusion, XCOM 2 lets you do anything a fan of turn based strategy games would want to do and more

Good Luck, Commander

Where to start with this gem. With over 1300 hours on the game, XCOM 2 is my favorite game of all time. Is it perfect? No. Well optimized? Without mods on a high end machine yeah. But the pure bliss of playing this game is indescribable. From cheering on your squad as they wipe the floor with a pod from a perfect concealment overwatch ambush, to raging from the loss of that same squad as a sectoid crits your only leveled soldier in high cover halfway across the map as your playing on legend difficulty and you were one turn from getting to the objecti... you get the point. XCOM 2 does what other games cant: Let you be the story. Sure, Bradford, Shen, and Tygan are the main characters, but you and your soldiers are the protagonists. The solider customization starts this off, with loads of things to choose from and mix and match looks for your soldier even in the base game. DLC adds to this, especially WOTC, which I would consider a mandatory purchase for anyone looking to seriously get into this game. The turn based nature of the game, along with the detailed environments and animations of soldiers and alien alike make for cinema level enjoyment and D Y N A M I C G A M E P L A Y A N D S T O R Y T E L L I N G. I know those are popular buzzwords for this game but they couldnt be closer to the truth. Being able to have your best friends, favorite fictional characters, or just a bunch of joe schmoes fight and die for each other makes some of the best gaming you can experience today. And if that's not all, IT ACTUALLY HAS GOOD GAMEPLAY! I've seen people describe the game as 3d battle chess, and that is an apt description. With 4 different classes and 2 different skill trees for each class that can mix and match skills from each tree, to weapon and armor tier upgrades, and weapon attachments, youve got so much to customize your soldiers playstyle. Then once the boots hit the ground, the missions are so open ended on how you want to approach each battle. If you start in stealth, do you want to slowly and silently move your soldiers up and find where each enemy is before perfectly positioning your soldiers to only have sights on 1 squads of ayys to overwatch ambush them then kill the rest because your already so close? Or do you rush your squad headfirst into the first squad you see and bulldoze through? [i] or do your soldiers die to the first squad because they miss all their shots and an officer frags your entire squad that was all huddled together because you had hoped you could wipe them out in one go...[/i] But thats the fun part! Losing soldiers creates for interesting scenarios on the tactical layer, where you move your ship around to scan for things you need. Do you now go for the rookie scan to replace the soldiers you lost? Or go for the supplies or alien tech to hopefully bolster your remaining barracks for the next mission? And yeah, I saved the best for last. MODS. This game was built with mod support in mind. LITERALLY. Firaxis made it their objective to make XCOM 2 one of the most mod accessible games because of the love and support mods like Long War received for Enemy Unknown, which was a MUCH harder game to mod. So, you remember how I said you could make you squad consist of some of your favorite fictional characters? Well now you can ACTUALLY make your soldiers look like those characters with the plentiful voice and cosmetic packs found for FREE on the workshop. Am I using ALOT of CAPITAL LETTERS?! YES! BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST PART! Do you want a more challenging experience with harder and more various enemies? Mods got you covered! (ABA, Long War 2, etc...) Wanna make your soldiers straight demigods of the battlefield? Class mods that have RIDICULOUSLY overpowered skills. New guns? Check. Armor? Check. New classes that ARE balanced? Check. Music mods? Check. Everything imaginable? Probably check. Mods is without a doubt the best part of XCOM 2, and a big part of the reason why I have clocked the hours I have. Ive done Halo campaigns, Gears of War campaign, realistic campaigns, UNrealistic campaigns, and so much more! If your bored during quarantine and want something to do, as of writing this review the game with all its DLC is around 50 USD, which is a steal for the amount of content that is. If you dont want to shell out that amount of cash, for 15 USD the base game is a great purchase as that alone is what I sunk probably 400 hours into with the mod support it has. In conclusion, XCOM 2 lets you do anything a fan of turn based strategy games would want to do and more [b][i] Good Luck, Commander [/i]